Navigation systems are often included in automotive vehicles. These systems typically feature a display for displaying graphical data, such as a map illustrating the present position of the vehicle, and text data, such as the date, time, and other information pertinent to the vehicle and its location. Navigation systems are typically equipped with a processor, a global positioning system device (GPS), memory, and a user interface, and are capable of generating driving directions from the vehicle's current location to a selected destination, and can even suggest optimized routes to the destination if the navigation system also receives real time information, such as traffic and weather reports, etc.
Advanced energy management research projects have shown that it is possible to optimize vehicle performance, such as fuel economy and, in the case of electric vehicles, suggest a charge location, based on information about the intended destination of a trip. When the driver enters a destination into the navigation system, reliable and precise destination information is available for vehicle performance optimization. However, drivers frequently travel between often visited locations, such as work and home, and are not likely to need the use of the navigation system during such trips and therefore will not input a destination. In this case, the vehicle itself must be able to accurately predict the destination.